London, 2 March 1871 

My dear Mrs Liebknecht, 

The unfortunately very meagre contributions that I sent you for 
the benefit of the families of the imprisoned men did not in any 

sense stem from the General Council of the International which 
has absolutely no funds for such purposes. The General Council 
was merely chosen by the subscribers as ‘trustee’ to ensure that the 
money was duly sent. Incidentally, no further evidence of receipt is 
necessary. 

On the subject of the articles on the German _ workers’ 
movement which have appeared in English reviews, what Lieb- 
knecht probably had in mind was the enclosed article on the 
International by Professor Beesly* which appeared in the 
November number (1870) of The Fortnightly Review. It may well be 
the passages from p. 531 on (I have put a mark to show where 
they begin)’ which Stieber wants to use to cook his proof. In the 
first place, Professor Beesly is not a member of the International 
and his statements are not authoritative for that reason. In the 
second place, he himself refutes Stieber’s inferences. 

The letter I sent to the Brunswick people” was not written in the 
name of or on the instructions of the General Council. That is why it 
was not written on paper with the letterhead of the General 
Council. My statements there are made entirely in my own name. 
It was in fact a reply—and a long-deferred reply at that—to a 
letter asking me for my personal views. They were perfectly within 
their rights to ask for this. At least, I know of no § in the Penal 
Code that would proscribe it. At any rate, it is not Mr Bismarck’s 
fault if ‘my views’ cannot be found printed in the Preussischer 
Staats-Anzeiger. The worthy Lothar Bucher did invite me after 
the heady days of Sadowa to write the financial column for that 
paper. More likely than not he took care not to publicise my 
reply.’ 

The German Empire is carrying on the campaign of the French 
Empire against the International. Nothing is so characteristic of the 
last days of the latter empire as the legal persecution of members 
of the International because they waged war on the intended war. 
The secret papers of Mr Ollivier published by the Republic are 
very revealing in this respect. 

I was very pleased to receive your letter today. An article by me 
was to have appeared in The Fortnightly Review, but I shall 
postpone it for the time being, since the inability of the Prussian 
government to intervene here might be more than made good at the 
expense of friends there [in Germany], who are of course in 

a E. S. Beesly, “The International Working Men’s Association’, The Fortnightly Review, 
No. XLVII, 1 November 1870. - > K. Marx and F. Engels, ‘Letter to the Committee 
of the Social-Democratic Workers’ Party’. 

no way responsible for things that happen without their knowl- 
edge. 

I would be greatly obliged to you if you could send me the 
complete stenographic report of the last session of the Reichstag that 
ended on 10 December 1870. 1 would of course reimburse you for 
the costs. 

Jennychen has unfortunately come down with pleurisy. 

With warmest regards to Liebknecht and yourself. 

Yours very sincerely, 
K. M.